Three

Its hard to believe that it has been 3 years since we brought that tiny baby home from the hospital.

She is now 3 years old!!!

We celebrated her birthday 3 times, the first one was at Peper Piper Pizza with some of our friends, we had pizza, cupcakes, ballons, presents!!! She loves that place ...

The second time was at home at our Thanksgiving dinner, we are very THANKFUL for her, she is such a smart, beautiful, loving & caring little person! We Skyped with our family in Colorado and they sang the Happy Birthday to her!!!

And the third time was the actual day of her birthday November 25th, shw woke up to a nice surprise in the living room.

And then we went out to dinner, where we ate more pizza and a delicious cheesecake (one of her favorites)

Overall was a great birthday for her!!!

Gracie at 3

How old are you? Cinco or five

 What is your favorite color? pink

 What is your favorite toy? blocks

 What is your favorite fruit? banana & strawberry

 What is your favorite tv show? Wiggles, Yo Gabba Gabba

 What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Spaguetti

 What is your favorite outfit? Princess Bella dress or tutus 

 What is your favorite game? Puzzles

 What is your favorite snack? fruit snacks, yogurt with fruit

 What is your favorite animal? horsey

 What is your favorite song? Martinillo

 What is your favorite book? Wheels on the bus

 Who is your best friend? Benny, Max, Alex, Alicia

 What is your favorite cereal? Fruty loopies

 What is your favorite thing to do outside? Go to the park, the pool

 What is your favorite drink? Apple Juice

 What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

 What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Blanket and Kitty 

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes

 What do you want for dinner on your birthday? spaghetti

Gracie, my baby girl, may this next year bring you happiness, health and all the love of the world because you deserve that and more than that.

We will like you forever

we will love you for always

as long as we are living

our baby you will be.

 

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Super Gracie & Gracie Butterfly!!!

I'm back!

Dear blog:

I'm so sorry I have neglected you again, I'm so bad at updating stuff but I will be better now, I promise.

Things hasn't changed that much since the last time I was here, Gracie keeps growing up so fast I can't believe it, she will be 3 in 2 months!!!! I'm still trying to decide what her party theme is going to be but I think we are going to do "Gracie's world" a mix of all the things she likes, like Jesse (cowgirl), Spiderman, The Wiggles ...  All I know is that is going to be sooooooo much fun!

Anyway, I will be back soon!

Until then ...

3 Leches Cake

3 Leches Cake recipe from the Pioneer Woman

 


I'm mexican so I grew up eating this cake every party or get together I went, when I moved to the USA I tried several cakes from several bakeries and none of them were like the ones I had in Mexico so after so many tries I finally found the BEST recipe for Pastel de 3 Leches! Thank you Pioneer Woman!

This cake is the REAL thing and it's sooo easy to make! Give it a try and just like me you will be hooked!


Ingredients
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
⅓ cups Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
¼ cups Heavy Cream

_____

FOR THE ICING:

1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar
Cherries for garnish (optional)
 
Preparation Instructions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.

Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped cherries.

Enjoy!!!!

Pistachio cake

I'm not a big fan of pistachios but my dear husband is, so he has been asking me to make this cake that his mom used to make for him when he was a kid, since I couldn't find her exact recipe I look it up on internet and I came up with my own version! He didn't like the cherries so next time I will just omit them. All in all he was very happy with the finish product! ;)  & I was happy I could bring warm & happy memories from his mom & his childhood!

For the cake:

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups water
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. almond extract
7 drops green food coloring (optional)

For the frosting:

2 packages (4-serving size each) instant pistachio pudding and pie filling mix

3 cups milk
2 envelopes whipped topping mix

Additional maraschino cherries and pistachio nuts (optional)



PREPARATION:
Cake

1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

2.Combine cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, oil and almond extract in large bowl. Mix according to package directions. Spread half of batter in each pan. Bake and cool according to package directions.

Frosting

1.Combine milk, pudding mix and whipped topping mix in large bowl. Beat at low speed with electric mixer until blended. Beat at high speed 2 to 3 minutes or until stiff, scraping sides of bowl often. Stir in cherries and pistachios (Optional). Refrigerate until ready to use.

2.To assemble cake; spread filling between each layer. Frost top and side of cake with frosting. Garnish with maraschino cherries and pistachios, if desired.

 

 

Nutella cupcakes with a nutella buttercream frosting

Nutella Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Devil’s Food Cake Mix
3 eggs
½ cup oil
¼ cup milk
½ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
24 teaspoons Nutella
(1 per cupcake)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffins tins.

2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, oil, milk, water and vanilla.

3. Sift in cake mix and stir in sour cream.

4. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and then place a teaspoon of Nutella on top of each one. Using a toothpick, swirl the Nutella into the batter.

5. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until the sides spring back. (The tops will stay gooey because of the Nutella.)

6. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and place directly into airtight containers so seal in moisture.


Nutella Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 13-ounce jar of Nutella
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6-8 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and Nutella until well combined. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 3-5 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

I'm linking up to the Larson Lingo

Sedona

This last sunday we got in the car & drove 150 miles to go to Sedona, AZ.

What a beautiful place!

So quiet & calm!

We had a great day exploring, walking by the river, the food was delicious and there were ice cream involved, yummy!

We are going back very soon!

What Grace has been up to ...

Oh My!

Where to start? She is seriously big but funny part is that she still fits her clothes form last year, she was chubby and now she is very tall so I'm happy that I haven't spent a little fortune in new clothes!

She is talking up a storm, repeating EVERY single word we say! Even though she is not formulating long sentences yet but I think thats because she is bilingual and I read that bilingual kids take longer to start talking which I don't mind at all since I know that as soon as she starts school her language skills are going to improve.

She eats everything, her favorites are mac & cheese, bananas, olives & spicy food (what can I say?, she is part mexican!)

She is such a loving and caring little girl, she absolutely adores her big brother (Junior) and he loves her back just as much, they have a lot of fun playing and wrestling togehter! When he cries about something she would say {Don't cry Jr, mommy home soon}. She loves her "Ima" so much, they spend the whole day together and I'm just thankful that my daughter gets to spend her childhood with her granma!

Overall she is a very happy & healthy little girl & I love her to death!

She calls me {honey} & my heart just melts!

I'm back!

Dear blog:

I'm sorry I was gone, I promise I would never leave you again! I have a lot of things to tell you and a lot of pictures to show you!

Just be patient!

Love,
Me